Sunday, February 06, 2005

Graveyard Stew

A couple weeks ago, Kate Colquhoun reviewed Italian essayist Aldo Buzzi's collection The Perfect Egg in The Daily Telegraph, and it sounds appetizing in a weird way:
It is rare for a list of contents to feel seductive, but here is one well worth the pause, ranging in its delightful promises from a consideration of Sopa de lima to rabbit and polenta (a combination that Brillat-Savarin observed "goes down like a letter in the postbox") and stuffed pigeon. Interspersed with these loftier subjects are thoughts on overcooked pasta (served with Bolognese sauce, on a cold plate), Graveyard stew (I won't spoil it for you), cooked ham with pineapple, crow soup and the humble sandwich.

Since then I've looked and noticed that Buzzi's book is nowhere to be found in the US.

(And now, a pause for some exasperated cursing.)

The Royal Mail does pretty well off me, what with all the airmail postage I wind up paying to them. Yes, not only is Buzzi's book nowhere to be found in the US , neither are his other books, save for a few remaindered copies of Journey to the Land of Flies. It's a shame, really, to think that there's no market in the States for a book of clever writing about food and... oh, wait, I forgot. That is a market here.